Paper management system, paper management method, and print control apparatus

ABSTRACT

A paper management system setting a paper information piece of paper stored in a sheet feeding unit in an image forming apparatus from a list of paper information pieces registers the paper information pieces with a favorite group, displays a list of the paper information pieces for each favorite group, and enables the list of the paper information pieces to be associated with a paper feed unit through the screen displaying the list.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates to a system configured to manage paperinformation to be used for printing.

Description of the Related Art

Conventionally, an apparatus such as a printer has been known as animage forming apparatus configured to form an image on paper (or sheet).As one of such image forming apparatuses, an image forming apparatus(such as Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2014-205343) has been known whichis configured to supply paper based on paper information added to printdata. In the image forming apparatus, paper information piece is to beassociated in advance with a paper-feed stage, and a user may search anddesignate a paper information piece associated with the paper-feed stagefrom a list of registered paper information pieces.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A paper management system defining paper information relating to paperstored in a sheet feeding unit in an image forming apparatus, the papermanagement system being capable of causing a display device to display ascreen containing a list of paper information pieces belonging to aspecific group, the paper management system include a unit configured toregister a paper information piece designated among a plurality of paperinformation pieces with a group designated among a plurality of groupsat least including a first group and a second group, a unit configuredto receive a designation of a paper information piece to be associatedwith the sheet feeding unit among the list of paper information piecesbelonging to the first group, and a unit configured to receive adesignation of a paper information piece to be associated with the sheetfeeding unit among the list of paper information pieces belonging to thesecond group.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing description of embodiments with reference to the attacheddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a configuration of a paper managementsystem.

FIG. 2 illustrates a hardware configuration of an image formingapparatus.

FIG. 3A illustrates a hardware configuration of a print controlapparatus.

FIG. 3B illustrates a software configuration thereof.

FIG. 4 illustrates a start-up flow for a paper management application.

FIG. 5 illustrates a start-up flow for the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 6A illustrates a communication configuration of the papermanagement system. FIG. 6B illustrates a paper management flow.

FIG. 7A illustrates a paper management screen. FIG. 7B illustrates aregistration screen for paper information piece. FIG. 7C illustrates ascreen for designating a paper information piece for a paper-feed stage.

FIG. 8A illustrates a screen for editing a favorite group. FIG. 8Billustrates a screen for editing a favorite group. FIG. 8C illustrates ascreen for editing a favorite group.

FIGS. 9A to 9C illustrate screen transitions for registering a paperinformation piece with a paper-feed stage.

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate a screen transition for a favoriteregistration.

FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate screen transitions for editing a favoritegroup.

FIG. 12A illustrates a table of paper information pieces. FIG. 12Billustrates a table of paper-feed stage information pieces. FIG. 12Cillustrates a table of information on favorite pieces.

FIG. 13A illustrates a flow of a favorite registration process. FIG. 13Billustrates a flow of a favorite display.

FIGS. 14A to 14C illustrate screen transitions for a favoriteregistration.

FIG. 15 illustrates a flow of a favorite registration process.

FIGS. 16A to 16C illustrate screen transitions for a favoriteregistration.

FIG. 17 illustrates a flow of a favorite registration process.

FIG. 18 illustrates a paper information list screen.

FIG. 19 illustrates a flow of processing for displaying a paperinformation list.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Modes for embodying the present disclosure will be described withreference to drawings below.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a configuration of a paper managementsystem. A paper management system 100 in FIG. 1 includes an imageforming apparatus 103 and a print control apparatus 102. The papermanagement system 100 is communicably connected with a client computer101. The client computer 101 and the print control apparatus 102 areconnected communicably over a local area network (LAN) 110 by using anEthernet (registered trademark) cable 109. The print control apparatus102 and the image forming apparatus 103 are connected via an image videocable 107 and a control cable 108. According to this embodiment, theimage forming apparatus 103 is not directly connected with the LAN 110.The image forming apparatus 103 and the client computer 101 communicatethrough the print control apparatus 102. It should be noted that theimage forming apparatus 103 may be connected with the LAN 110. In otherwords, the image forming apparatus 103 may directly and communicably beconnected with the client computer 101.

The client computer 101 may transmit a print instruction to the papermanagement system 100 by starting up an application. The print controlapparatus 102 may perform image processing in cooperation with the imageforming apparatus 103. The image forming apparatus 103 may be a multifunction peripheral having various functions and can perform imageprocessing in cooperation with the client computer 101 or the printcontrol apparatus 102, can copy data read by a scanner unit 104, and cansend it to a shared folder. In a case where an image is to be scanned bythe scanner unit 104, instructions can be received through a key on anoperating unit 105. Also through the operating unit 105, informationsuch as a scan state, can be displayed. A paper discharging unit 106 isconfigured to receive paper having an image thereon and to discharge thereceived sheet. The print control apparatus 102 has a display device 111and may be an apparatus such as a liquid crystal monitor. A keyboard 112and a pointing device 113 may also be provided.

Although, according to this embodiment, the paper management system 100is described as a separate system from the print control apparatus 102and the image forming apparatus 103. Processing to be performed by theprint control apparatus 102 may be internally included in the imageforming apparatus 103 so that the print control apparatus 102 may notphysically be provided. The display device 111 may have a position inputdevice function such as the one of a touch pad and may also beconfigured to have functionality of the pointing device 113.

FIG. 2 illustrates a hardware configuration of the image formingapparatus. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the image formingapparatus 103, and a controller 200 is configured to control the imageforming apparatus 103 and includes from the CPU 201 to a readinginterface 212. The CPU 201 is configured to generally control accessesto and from devices connected to a system bus 204 based on a controlprogram stored in the ROM 203 or the external memory 210. The CPU 201 isfurther configured to output an image signal as output information to aprinting unit (printer engine) 213 connected thereto through a printinterface 207 and to control an image signal input from a reading unit(scanner) 104 connected thereto through the reading interface 212. TheCPU 201 can perform communication processing with the print controlapparatus 102 through a LAN controller 206. A RAM 202 mainly functionsas a main memory or a work area for the CPU 201, for example. Accessesto the external memory 210 such as a hard disk (HDD) and an IC card maybe controlled by a disk controller (DKC) 208. The hard disk may store anapplication program, font data, form data and so on and may be used as ajob storage area for temporarily spooling a print job and externallycontrolling the spooled job. The hard disk may further hold image dataread from the scanner 104 or image data from a print job as holdprinting data, and may function as a hold printing data storage area tobe referred or for printing over the network. According to thisembodiment, an HDD is used as an external memory and is configured tohold logs such as a job log and an image log. An operation unit I/F 205is configured to receive information input through the operating unit105 (such as a software key or a hardware key) by a user and transmits acorresponding screen display control signal. A nonvolatile memory 209 isconfigured to store setting information defined by the operating unit105 or a terminal over the network. A video interface 211 is configuredto receive image data from the print control apparatus 102.

FIG. 3A illustrates a hardware configuration of the print controlapparatus 102. Referring to the block diagram illustrating the printcontrol apparatus 102 in FIGS. 3A and 3B, a controller 300 is configuredto control the print control apparatus 102 and includes a CPU 301 to avideo interface 310. The CPU 301 is configured to generally controlaccesses to devices connected to a system bus 304 based on a controlprogram stored in a ROM 303 or an external memory 309. The CPU 301 isfurther capable of communication processing with the image formingapparatus 103 through a LAN controller 306. Through the LAN controller307, the CPU 301 can perform communication processing with the clientcomputer 101 and the image forming apparatus 103 over the network. A RAM302 can mainly function as a main memory or a work area for the CPU 301.Accesses to an external memory 309 such as a hard disk (HDD) and an ICcard are controlled by a disk controller (DKC) 308. The hard disk maystore an application program, a font data, form data and so on and isconfigured to temporarily spool print jobs. The hard disk may processspooled jobs in an RIP (Raster Image Processor) and may be used as a jobstorage area for storing them again. An operation unit I/F 305 isconfigured to receive information input from a user through theoperating unit (such as keyboard 112 or pointing device 113) and totransmit a screen display control signal to the display device 111. Thevideo interface 310 is configured to transmit the image data havingundergone the RIP processing to the image forming apparatus 103.

FIG. 3B illustrates a software configuration thereof. System software351 for controlling the print control apparatus 102 includes a userinterface control unit 352, a paper managing unit 353, a paper-feedstage managing unit 354, a network control unit 355, a job managing unit356, and a setting managing unit 357.

The user interface control unit 352 is configured to control a screen tobe displayed on the paper management system. The user interface controlunit 352 can control to change the display data on a display unit suchas text to be displayed on a screen and a display unit system of a papersize based on system settings.

The paper managing unit 353 is configured to communicate with the imageforming apparatus 103 to manage obtained paper information withreference to a paper setting management table 1210 in FIG. 12A. Thepaper managing unit 353 can edit, add, delete, and search paperinformation to or from the paper setting management table 1210. Thepaper setting management table 1210 is a management table for managingpaper information for each paper ID and is managed in the externalmemory 309 that is a non-volatile storage area. Having described thatthe table is managed in the external memory 309, it may be managed inthe external memory 210 on the image forming apparatus 103 side, and theprint control apparatus 102 may obtain the paper setting managementtable 1210 from the image forming apparatus 103 and may be stored in theRAM 302 during execution of a program.

A paper-feed stage managing unit 354 communicates with the image formingapparatus 103 and is configured to manage obtained paper-feed stageinformation in a paper-feed stage management table 1220 in FIG. 12A. Thepaper-feed stage managing unit 354 can edit, add, delete, and searchpaper-feed stage information on the paper-feed stage management table1220. The paper-feed stage management table 1220 is a management tablefor managing paper-feed stage information for each paper-feed stage IDand is managed in the external memory 309 that is a non-volatile storagearea. Having described the table is managed in the external memory 309,it may be managed in the external memory 210 on the image formingapparatus 103 side, and the print control apparatus 102 may obtain thepaper-feed management table 1220 from the image forming apparatus 103and may be stored in the RAM 302 during execution of a program.

The network control unit 355 is configured to control processing forcommunicating with image forming apparatus 103 through the LANcontroller 306 and the client computer 101 over the network through LANcontroller 307.

The job managing unit 356 is configured to manage a print processingsequence or order of jobs. The job managing unit 356 is configured tomanage a job received by the print control apparatus 102 and to controltransfer of data for printing a received job to the image formingapparatus 103 through the LAN controller 306 and the video interface310.

The setting managing unit 357 is configured to manage system settingsregarding the paper management system and information on favorites(hereinafter, favorite information). The setting managing unit 357 isconfigured to manage favorite information on a favorite setting table1230 in FIG. 12C. The setting managing unit 357 can edit, add, delete,and search information on favorite to or from the favorite setting table1230. The system settings may include text to be displayed on a screenof the paper management system, language settings, and a display unitsystem for a paper size (millimeter or inch), for example. The settingtable 1230 is a management table for managing setting informationregarding the paper management system 100 and is managed in the externalmemory 309 that is a non-volatile storage area. Having described thetable is managed in the external memory 309, it may be managed in theexternal memory 210 in the image forming apparatus 103 side, and theprint control apparatus 102 may obtain the setting table 1230 from theimage forming apparatus 103 and may be stored in the RAM 302 duringexecution of the program.

FIG. 7A illustrates a paper management screen. FIG. 7B illustrates apaper information registration screen. FIG. 7C illustrates a screen fordesignating a paper for a paper-feed stage.

The paper management system runs on the print control apparatus 102. Atop screen 710 in FIG. 7A displays information regarding paper-feedstages in the image forming apparatus 103. The top screen 710 accordingto the paper management system is stored as image data rendered in avideo memory in response to an instruction from the CPU 301 and isoutput to the display device 111 as a video signal for display.

The top screen 710 is displayed as a top screen according to the papermanagement system and can display information on paper-feed stages inthe image forming apparatus 103 (refer to FIG. 7A). The top screen 710represents a connection state of a hardware option, which is connectedwith the print control apparatus 102, of the image forming apparatus103. When the paper management system is started up, informationregarding the hardware option in the image forming apparatus 103 isobtained, and a proper image is displayed based on the optioninformation. Referring to FIGS. 7A, 7B and 7C according to thisembodiment, five paper-feed devices (one of which is a manual feedtray), and a paper-discharging device is connected thereto. Paper-feedstage buttons 713 to 716 are provided. The paper-feed stage buttons aregenerated and are placed based on information regarding paper-feedstages (sheet feeding unit or storage unit) in the image formingapparatus 103, which is obtained upon start up of the paper managementsystem. A paper remaining amount display unit 718 is an area configuredto display a paper remaining amount of a paper-feed stage. Thecontroller 300 obtains the paper-feed stage information again inresponse to an event that the state of a paper-feed stage has changed inthe image forming apparatus 103, which is received from the imageforming apparatus 103. The controller 300 re-renders the paper remainingamount display unit 718 based on the obtained paper-feed stageinformation.

A paper information list button 711 is a button for instructing todisplay a paper information list screen. According to this embodiment,if the button 711 is pressed, the controller 300 displays the paperinformation list screen 730 as in FIG. 7B and displays the paperinformation list screen 730 in the foreground.

A setting button 712 is a button for instructing to display a screen forchanging system settings for the paper management system. The controller300 is configured to display current system settings based on the systemsettings stored in the external memory 309. FIG. 4 is a flowchart ofprocessing to be performed by the print control apparatus 102 configuredto process when the top screen 710 is generated upon start up of thepaper management system. FIG. 5 illustrates a start-up flow of the imageforming apparatus. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the image forming apparatus103 generates information to be synchronized with the print controlapparatus 102 by communicating with the print control apparatus 102 uponstart up.

FIG. 4 illustrates a start-up flow of a paper management application.

A program in the print control apparatus 102 according to the flowchartin FIG. 4 is stored in the external memory 309 in FIG. 3A, is read outto the RAM 302, and is executed by the CPU 301. Upon start up of thepaper management system, the controller 300 in S401 identifies the modelof the image forming apparatus 103 to be paper-managed. The controller300 communicates with the image forming apparatus 103 to obtain themodel information and identifies the model of the image formingapparatus 103 based on model identification information pre-held in thepaper management system.

If the model is identified in S401, the processing moves to S402.

In S402, the controller 300 identifies a hardware option connected tothe image forming apparatus 103, and when the top screen 710 isgenerated, the model identification information is used for identifyingpaper-feed stage information or when a difference in specificationsbetween models is absorbed. If the hardware option information isobtained through the communication with the image forming apparatus 103,the processing moves to S403.

In S403, the controller 300 identifies a paper-feed stage connected tothe image forming apparatus 103 to be paper-managed. The number ofpaper-feed stages connected thereto and paper-feed stage information areobtained. For example, the paper-feed stage information obtained heremay include a paper-feed stage name, a paper-feed stage ID, and thesheet remaining amount of the paper-feed stage. If a paper-feed stage isidentified in S403, the controller 300 controls the paper-feed stagemanaging unit 354 to write the obtained paper-feed stage information tothe paper-feed stage management table 1220. The processing moves toS404.

In S404, the controller 300 obtains paper information regarding paperset in the paper-feed stage by communicating with the image formingapparatus 103. If the paper information (such as a paper ID) regardingthe paper-feed stage is obtained in S404, the controller 300 controlsthe paper-feed stage managing unit 354 to write the obtained paper ID toan area matched with the corresponding paper-feed stage ID on thepaper-feed stage management table 1220. Then, the processing moves toS405.

In S405, the controller 300 generates information (paper-feed stageinformation) on paper-feed stage buttons 713 to 717 to be displayed onthe top screen 710. If information of the paper-feed stage buttons isgenerated in S405, the processing moves to S406.

In S406, the controller 300 obtains a paper information list bycommunicating with the image forming apparatus 103. The paperinformation may include, for example, a paper name, parameters forprinting (such as a grammage and a size of a paper to be displayed on anpaper information input area 751, set values for adjustment ofglossiness/black quality to be displayed on an adjustment item list754), favorite IDs, usage logs, settable paper-feed stage IDs. If thepaper information list is obtained in S406, the controller 300 controlsthe paper managing unit 353 to write the obtained paper information tothe paper setting management table 1210. Then, the processing moves toS407. In S407, the controller 300 generates a paper information list tobe displayed on a paper information list display area 731 of the paperinformation list screen 730. In the print control apparatus 102, thecontroller 300 can control the paper managing unit 353 to determinewhether a paper-feed stage ID is settable for a paper-feed stage basedon the obtained paper information or not. Alternatively, the controller300 may control the paper managing unit 353 to inquire about whether thepaper information obtained for the image forming apparatus 103 issettable for a paper-feed stage, and a settable paper-feed stage IDreturned from the image forming apparatus 103 may be set. A usage log isinformation indicating the number of times of allocation of a paperinformation piece, and is set at zero when a paper information piece iscreated and increments when the paper information piece is allocated toa certain paper-feed stage.

If the controller 300 generates the paper information list in S407, theprocessing moves to S408.

In S408, the controller 300 generates a top screen 710 based on themodel hardware option information on the image forming apparatus 103obtained in S401 and S402 and the paper-feed stage information generatedin S405. The controller 300 generates a paper information list screen730 based on the paper information list generated in S407. A displaydevice 111 with a lower resolution may have a narrow screen displayarea. Therefore, the paper information list screen 730 may sometimes bedisplayed over the top screen 710. In a case where the paper informationlist screen 730 is closed and the paper management system is thenre-started, the top screen 710 may only be displayed upon next start-up.In this case, an operator may press a paper information list button 711on a top screen after the start-up so that the paper information listscreen 730 may display in accordance with the information obtained insteps S405 and S407.

FIG. 5 illustrates a start-up flow of the image forming apparatus. Aprogram for the image forming apparatus 103 according to the flowchartin FIG. 5 is stored in the external memory 210 in FIG. 2, be read out tothe RAM 202 and be executed by the CPU 201. The image forming apparatus103 upon start-up moves to S501. In S501, the controller 200 obtainsmodel information of the controller 200 itself from the external memory210 and generates it as returnable data.

If the data of the model information is generated in S501, theprocessing moves to S502.

In S502, the controller 200 obtains information on a hardware optionconnected thereto from the print engine 213 through the print interface207 and generates it as a returnable data to the RAM 202. If the data ofthe hardware option information is generated in S502, the processingmoves to S503.

In S503, the controller 200 obtains information regarding a hardwareoption from which the corresponding paper-feed stage information isobtained from the RAM 202 and generates it as a returnable data. If thedata of the paper-feed stage information is generated in S503, theprocessing moves to S504.

In S504, the controller 200 obtains paper information list of thecontroller 200 itself from the external memory 210 and generates asreturnable data. If the data of the paper information list is generatedin S504, the processing moves to S505.

In S505, the controller 200 determines whether inquiry about modelinformation has been received from the print control apparatus 102. Ifthe inquiry about the model information has been received, theprocessing moves to S506 where the model information generated in S501is returned. The processing moves to S507. If not, the processing alsomoves to S508.

In S507, the controller 200 determines whether the inquiry about thehardware option information has been received from the print controlapparatus 102. If the inquiry about the hardware option information hasbeen received, the processing moves to S508 where the hardware optioninformation generated in S502 is returned, and the processing moves toS509. If not in S507, the processing also moves to S509.

In S509, the controller 200 determines whether an inquiry about thepaper-feed stage information has been received from the print controlapparatus 102. If the inquiry about the paper-feed stage information hasbeen received, the processing moves to S510 where the paper-feed stageinformation generated in S503 is returned. The processing moves to S511.If the inquiry about the paper-feed stage information has not beenreceived in S509, the processing also moves to S511.

In S511, the controller 200 determines whether an inquiry about thepaper information list has been received from the print controlapparatus 102. If the inquiry about the paper information list has beenreceived, the processing moves to S512 where paper information listgenerated in S504 is returned. The processing moves to S505. If not inS511, the processing also moves to S505.

Referring back to FIGS. 7A, 7B and 7C, when a button 713 on a paper-feedstage 1 is pressed by using, for example, the pointing device 113, apaper settings screen 770 for the paper-feed stage 1 as in FIG. 7C isdisplayed. Because buttons 714 to 717 are similar to the button 713, anyrepetitive descriptions will be omitted. The term “paper-feed stage”refers to one including all of paper feeders such as an inserter and amanual feed tray, details of which will not be described according tothis embodiment. Although it is apparent that an input device is usedfor operations, use of the pointing device 113, for example, when anapplication operates in response to a press of the button will notdescribe below.

FIG. 7C illustrates the paper settings screen 770 for the paper-feedstage 1. The paper settings screen 770 is rendered in a correspondingvideo memory in response to an instruction from the CPU 301, and theimage data rendered in the video memory is output to and displayed onthe display device 111 as a video signal. The paper settings screen 770displays a paper information list display area 771, a paper informationdisplay area 772, a button 773 for displaying an adjustment screen foran adjustment item, a button 774 for displaying a setting screen forother paper information that is not displayed there, an OK button 775,and a cancel button 776. Because the paper information list display area771 displays the same information as the area 731 of the paperinformation list screen 730, any detail repetitive descriptions will beomitted. While the paper settings screen 770 is being displayed, paperset in the present paper-feed stage is selected on the paper informationlist display area 771. If paper is selected from the paper informationlist 771, the paper information display area 772 displays informationregarding the selected paper. If another paper is selected on the paperinformation list display area 771 and the OK button 775 is pressed, thecontroller 300 defines paper settings for the image forming apparatus103. If another paper is selected on the paper information list displayarea 771 and the cancel button 776 is pressed, the controller 300 doesnot define paper settings for the image forming apparatus 103, and thepaper settings screen 770 is closed. The paper information display area772 displays setting information on the currently selected paper. If thepaper-feed stage button 713 on the top screen 710 in FIG. 7A is pressedand the screen 770 is opened, information regarding the paper currentlyallocated to the paper-feed stage 1 is displayed.

Items of the paper information display area 772 will be described. Forimproved convenience of an operator, only paper information frequentlyused by the operator is displayed as an example according to thisembodiment. More specifically, the information includes a paper name andadjustment items (image position adjustment, secondary transfer voltageadjustment, curl correction amount, glossiness/black quality adjustment,correction of white void at back end, saddle stitch setting, air flowadjustment for sheet fan. Because these items will be described indescriptions about the paper setting screen 750 in FIG. 7B, they are notdescribed here. The paper information display area 772 displays a nameof the currently selected paper and whether the adjustment values havebeen changed from initial values for the image forming apparatus 103 ornot. If they are not changed, “NOT ADJUSTED” is displayed. If they arechanged, “ADJUSTED” is displayed. A button 773 is displayed for an itemwhich can be adjusted from the print control apparatus 102, and it isconfigured to be capable of displaying corresponding adjustment screen.

The button 774 is a button to be pressed to check information displayedin the paper information display area 772 or to define settings. Forexample, it may be configured to display a paper setting screen 750 inFIG. 7B.

Although a paper management application runs on the print controlapparatus 102 according to this embodiment, embodiments of the presentdisclosure are not limited by such a paper management application. Thesame mechanism may be implemented in the client computer 101 or theimage forming apparatus 103.

Embodiment 1

Processing to be performed by the print control apparatus 102 and theimage forming apparatus 103 according to Embodiment 1 will be describedwith reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B. FIG. 6A illustrates a communicationconfiguration of the paper management system. FIG. 6B illustrates apaper management flow. A program in the print control apparatus 102which will be described below is stored in the external memory 309 inFIG. 3A so that it can be read out to the RAM 302 and can be executed bythe CPU 301.

According to this embodiment, an operator is enabled to use a pluralityof favorite settings for frequently used paper information pieces.Information on a favorite included in the paper information can be usedprior to printing to find a desired paper information piece and definepaper settings for printing. The term “favorite” in this embodiment isidentification information by which an operator can easily find his orher desired paper information piece. According to this embodiment, afavorite ID is provided as one paper information piece as an example.Assume a case where there may be an order for additional 100 copies ofprint materials that have been printed once in a printing factory. Inthis case, because the same paper information piece as that of the lastprinting is to be used, the paper information piece may be defined as afavorite so that it can be found out as a paper information piece thatis frequently additionally ordered by a customer. More specifically, forcustomers who frequently additionally order, for example, favoriteslabeled as “Clientele Company A”, “Clientele Company B”, and “ClienteleCompany C”, and may be defined for a paper information piece to be usedby each of the customers. When there is a plurality of customers, onefavorite is not useful for distinguishing between them. Therefore, aplurality of favorite IDs may be provided as paper information pieces.

Next, with reference to the flow in FIG. 6B, a flow will be described inwhich a printing factory receives a print order for a house leaflet(with paper of Mohawa Color) from Clientele Company A, causing anoperator to print the house leaflet. It is assumed here the printingfactory can distinguish the paper to be used by the clientele is basedon the favorite type from other paper information pieces. It is alsoassumed that Clientele Company A, Clientele Company B, and ClienteleCompany C are registered as favorites, and a corresponding paperinformation piece has been registered for each clientele.

Favorite Managing Unit

First, a favorite managing unit will be described with reference toFIGS. 8A, 8B and 8C and FIGS. 11A and 11B. FIG. 8A illustrates a screenfor editing a favorite group. FIG. 8B illustrates a screen for editing afavorite group. FIG. 8C illustrates a screen for editing a favoritegroup. According to this embodiment, a favorite management screen 810 inFIG. 8A corresponds to a managing unit for favorites. The favoritemanagement screen 810 is displayed in response to a press of a favoriteregister/edit button 753 on the paper setting screen 750. It may beconfigured to shift from a setting screen displayed in response to apress of a setting button 712 on the top screen 710 to the favoritemanagement screen 810.

The favorite management screen 810 in FIG. 8A includes a favorite list811, a register button 812, an edit button 813, a delete button 814, andclose button 815.

The favorite list 811 is configured to display a list of names offavorites registered with a favorite setting table 1230 corresponding toa paper management system. The controller 300 controls the userinterface control unit 352 to obtain the name of favorite, the favoriteID, the icon ID in the favorite setting table 1230 from the settingmanaging unit 357 to generate the favorite management screen 810. Forexample, the management screen 810 vertically displays icon imagescorresponding to icon IDs and names of favorites based on the favoritesetting table 1230. On a favorite list 811, the currently selectedfavorite has a selected state.

FIG. 12A illustrates a table of paper information. FIG. 12B illustratesa table of paper-feed stage information. FIG. 12C illustrates a table ofinformation on favorites.

Next, the favorite setting tables 1230 in FIGS. 12A, 12B and 12C will bedescribed. A favorite setting table is a setting table for storingcategories of favorites in the paper management system. The favoritesetting table 1230 is managed by the setting managing unit 357 and isconfigured to be stored in the external memory 309 that is a nonvolatilearea. The favorite setting table 1230 includes names of favorites,favorite IDs, and icon IDs. Each of the names of favorites is a name forpresentation to a user on a screen. Each of the favorite IDs isidentification information by which a favorite can be distinguished.Each of the icon IDs is an ID by which an icon can be identified andallows distinction of favorites along with a list of paper informationlist names on, for example, the paper information list screen 730. It isassumed here that a distinguishable icon ID is pre-assigned to an icondisplayed on icon lists 822 and 833, which will be described below. Forexample, icon IDs are assigned serially in order from left to right ofthe icons such as a “1” within a circle indicating an icon ID=1, “2”within a circle indicating an icon ID=2. The controller 300 controlsuser interface control unit 352 to read an icon corresponding to an iconID and display the icon on the screen.

A button 812 is for newly registering a favorite. If the button 812 ispressed, the controller 300 controls the user interface control unit 352to display a favorite registration screen 820.

A button 813 is for editing a favorite selected on the favorite list811. If the button 813 is pressed, the controller 300 controls the userinterface control unit 352 to display a favorite edit screen 830.

A button 814 is for deleting a favorite selected on the favorite list811. If the button 814 is pressed, the controller 300 controls thesetting managing unit 357 to delete a selected favorite.

A button 815 is for closing the favorite management screen 810. If thebutton 815 is pressed, the controller 300 controls the user interfacecontrol unit 352 to close the favorite management screen 810.

Next, a favorite registration screen 820 in FIG. 8B will be described.The favorite registration screen 820 includes a name input field 821, anicon list 822, an OK button 823, and a cancel button 824. The name inputfield 821 is a text field in which a name of a favorite can be input. Inorder to change the name, text can be input to the text area by using,for example, the keyboard 112. Any kind of input device such as thekeyboard 112 can be used to input text although a case where thekeyboard 112 is used for input will not be described below. If the OKbutton 823 is pressed, the controller 300 controls the setting managingunit 357 to add the input name and an icon ID of the selected icon tothe favorite setting table 1230. If the cancel button 824 is pressed,the controller 300 controls the user interface control unit 352 to closethe favorite registration screen 820. The icon list 822 is an icon listwhich can be displayed in the paper information list display area 731 onthe paper information list screen 730 or in the favorite setting area752 on the paper setting screen 750. An operator can select one icon tobe used from the icon list.

Next, the favorite edit screen 830 in FIG. 8C will be described. Thefavorite edit screen 830 includes a name input field 831, an icon list832, an OK button 833, and a cancel button 834. Because the name inputfield 831 is similar to the name input field 821, any repetitivedescription will be omitted. Because the icon list 832 is also similarto the icon list 822, any repetitive description will be omitted. If theOK button 833 is pressed, the controller 300 controls the settingmanaging unit 357 to write the changed name and the icon ID of theselected icon in the favorite area corresponding to the selectedfavorite ID selection in a setting table 1230. Because the cancel button834 is similar to the cancel button 824, any repetitive description willbe omitted.

Next, screen transitions among the screens illustrated in FIGS. 8A, 8Band 8C will be described with reference to FIGS. 11A and 11B. FIGS. 11Aand 11B illustrate screen transitions for editing a favorite group.First, a screen transition for new registration of a favorite will bedescribed. If a favorite register/edit button 1111 in FIG. 11A on ascreen 1110 (corresponding to the paper setting screen 750) is pressed,the controller 300 controls the user interface control unit 352 todisplay a screen 1120 (corresponding to the favorite management screen810). If a register button 1122 is pressed on the screen 1120, thecontroller 300 controls the user interface control unit 352 to display ascreen 1130 (corresponding to the favorite registration screen 820). If“Clientele Company D” in a name input field 1131 and “spade” in an iconlist 1132 on the screen 1130 are selected and a button 1133 is pressed,the controller 300 adds an input information to the favorite settingtable 1230. More specifically, the controller 300 controls the settingmanaging unit 357 to write “Clientele Company D” as the name offavorite, 4 (because 1 to 3 have already been used up to this point) asa favorite ID, and 6 as an icon ID. The controller 300 controls the userinterface control unit 352 to close the screen 1130.

Next, screen transitions for editing a registered favorite will bedescribed. If, on the screen 1120, “Clientele Company A” is selected inthe favorite list 1121 and the edit button 1123 is pressed, thecontroller 300 controls the user interface control unit 352 to display ascreen 1140 (corresponding to the favorite edit screen 830). If, on thescreen 1140, “Clientele Company E” is selected in a name input field1141, “heart” is selected in an icon list 1142, and a button 1143 ispressed, the controller 300 overwrites the input information in thefavorite setting table 1230. More specifically, the controller 300controls the setting managing unit 357 to write “Clientele Company E” asa name of favorite and 7 as an icon ID in a favorite ID=1 area. Thecontroller 300 controls the user interface control unit 352 to close thescreen 1130.

Finally, screen transitions for deleting a registered favorite will bedescribed. If, on the screen 1120, “Clientele Company A” is selected inthe favorite list 1121 and the delete button 1124 is pressed, thecontroller 300 controls the paper managing unit 353 to search whetherany paper has the selected favorite ID. The paper managing unit 353obtains all of registered paper information pieces and compares the IDsof the paper information pieces of paper with the favorite ID to detecta match. If it is detected that there is a paper belonging to favoriteID=1 of Clientele Company A, the controller 300 aborts the search andcontrols the user interface control unit 352 to display a warning screen1150. The warning screen 1150 is to be displayed to confirm whether apaper information piece having the applicable favorite ID if any is tobe deleted or not. The warning screen 1150 displays an icon and wordsfor warning in a message area 1151. If a “YES” button 1152 is pressed,the controller 300 controls the setting managing unit 357 to deletesettings for the row of the favorite ID=1 (Clientele Company A) from thesetting table 1230. The controller 300 controls the paper managing unit353 to delete favorite ID=1 from the favorite ID of the paperinformation pieces for all paper information pieces in the paper settingmanagement table 1210. For example, favorite IDs of a paper type (MohawkColor) having the paper ID=1 in the paper setting management table 1210are overwritten with 2, 3, 4. The controller 300 controls the userinterface control unit 352 to re-render the screen 1110 and the paperinformation list screen 730 that are being displayed. In a case wherethe favorite to be deleted is not set in any paper information pieces,the controller 300 controls the setting managing unit 357 to delete thesets of the row having favorite ID=1 (Clientele Company A) from thesetting table 1230. The controller 300 controls the user interfacecontrol unit 352 to re-render the screen 1110 and the paper informationlist screen 730 that are currently being displayed. Up to this point,the managing unit for a favorite has been described.

Favorite Setting Unit

Next, a favorite setting unit will be described. According to thisembodiment, a favorite registering unit includes two execution unitsconfigured to set the paper setting screen 750 in FIG. 7B and configuredto perform a defining operation by right-clicking on the paperinformation list screen 730 illustrated in FIG. 7A.

The unit for performing a defining operation on the paper setting screen750 in FIG. 7B will be described. The paper setting screen 750 is ascreen for newly registering a paper information piece and editing aregistered paper information piece. The paper setting screen 750includes a paper information input area 751, a paper informationadjustment item list 754, a pull-down menu 755 for changing thedisplayed group of adjustment item lists, an OK button 756, and a cancelbutton 757.

The paper information input area 751 displays minimum setting items forhandling a paper within the paper information. According to thisembodiment, for example, the setting items to be displayed may include aname, a grammage, a color, a surface property, a size, a feature,double-sided/second surface, and favorites. Because this descriptionfocuses on favorites, the other setting items than favorites will bedescribed only briefly. An object 761 is a text area in which a name ofa paper can be input. In order to change the name, text can be input byusing the keyboard 112 in the text area. For example, the text area maybe blank for new registration and may display the name of the currentlyselected paper for editing. In order to reflect the changed informationto the paper information, the OK button 756 on the paper setting screen750 may be pressed. If the OK button 756 is pressed, the paperinformation regarding the print control apparatus 102 and the imageforming apparatus 103 can be changed.

The OK button 756 on the paper setting screen 750 is pressed. If thecancel button 757 is pressed, a paper setting can be cancelled. Anobject 762 is a text area in which a grammage can be input. Becauseoperations to be performed thereon are equivalent to those to beperformed on the name text area being the object 761, any repetitivedescriptions will be omitted. An object 763 is a pull-down menudisplaying color information of a paper which can be selected from thelist. An object 764 is a pull-down menu displaying a surface propertyinformation, which can be selected from the list. An object 765 is apull-down menu list displaying size information of a sheet, which can beselected from the list. An object 766 is a text area in which lengths inmain-scanning and sub-scanning directions of a sheet size, which can beinput when a user defined size is selected in the object 765. The papersetting screen 750 is gray-out to prevent inputting because the sheetsize is A4. The input units may include a button or buttons forswitching between millimeter and inch. An object 767 is a pull-down menulist displaying characteristic information which can be selected fromthe list. An object 768 is a pull-down menu list displaying a flapposition of an envelope, which can be selected from the list. The object768 is a pull-down menu list which accepts an input if an envelope isselected in the object 767. An object 769 is a radio button displaying adouble-sided/second surface information to switch between “set” and “notset”. The double-sided/second surface information is a setting forchanging voltage of the transfer in a case where a sheet having a frontside fixed is put to the corresponding paper-feed stage to fix its backside.

A favorite setting area 752 is a menu displaying a favorite list storedin the favorite setting table 1230, in which a favorite to which thesettings belongs can be set. Here, when the favorite list 752 isdisplayed along with check boxes, and if a checkbox is checked, itindicates that the setting belongs to a target favorite. For example, inthe object 752, because three favorites (Clientele Company A, ClienteleCompany B, Clientele Company C) are not checked, it means that thesettings do not belong to any of favorites. In order to reflect thechanged information to the paper information, the OK button 756 on thepaper setting screen 750 may be pressed. If the OK button 756 ispressed, the paper information for the print control apparatus 102 andthe image forming apparatus 103 can be changed. In response to aninstruction to generate a paper setting screen 750, the controller 300controls the setting managing unit 357 to obtain the favorite settingtable 1230. The controller 300 controls the user interface control unit352 to display the paper setting screen 750 based on the information onthe obtained favorite setting table 1230.

The favorite register/edit button 753 is for displaying a favoritemanagement screen 810. Because the favorite management screen 810 hasalready been described, any repetitive description will be omitted.

The adjustment item list 754 displays a name, the necessity ofadjustment, and a list of a display group for items which can beadjusted with a set value included in the paper information. Fordetermination of the necessity of adjustment of an adjustment item, ifan adjustment item is selected in the object 754, a detail value of anadjustment value and an adjustment button are displayed on the papersetting screen 750 so that a target adjustment screen can be displayedin response to a press of the adjustment button. Adjustment itemsdisplayed in the object 754 will be described briefly. “Glossiness/blackquality adjustment” is an item for adjusting the temperature of a fixingunit when plain paper or coated paper is used to adjust the glossinessof an output image. This is defined to belong to a display group“quality”. “Adjustment of secondary transfer voltage” is an adjustmentitem for changing voltage to transfer a toner image to a sheet. This isdefined to belong to a display group “quality”. “White void correctionat back end” is an adjustment item for changing the transfer voltagewhen toner is removed to white or to be light at a trailing end of asheet in the conveying direction. This is defined to belong to a displaygroup “quality”. “Adjustment of secondary transfer antistatic bias” isan adjustment item for change the voltage value (antistatic bias) toremove static electricity remaining in an intermediate transfer belt.This is defined to belong to a display group “quality”. “ITB imageremoval adjustment” is an adjustment item for changing the degree ofimage removal of an intermediate transfer belt. This is defined tobelong to a display group “quality”. “Toner amount adjustment mode” isan adjustment item for changing a total amount of toner. This is definedto belong to a display group “quality”. “Adjustment of primary transfervoltage” is an adjustment item for changing voltage to transfer a tonerimage from an intermediate transfer belt to a sheet. This is defined tobelong to a display group “quality”.

“Adjustment of registration loop amount” is an adjustment item forchanging the amount of bending of a sheet which is formed when an imageposition is being adjusted. This is defined to belong to a display group“quality”. “Adjustment of registration speed” is an adjustment item forchanging the speed for adjusting an image position. This is defined tobelong to a display group “quality”. “Smearing correction” is anadjustment item for changing a transfer speed when a sheet istransformed due to an uneven water content, causing a sheet conveyingdefect and resulting in an image turbulence or density nonuniformity.This is defined to belong to a display group “quality”. “Fixing pressureadjustment” is an adjustment item for changing fixing pressure. This isdefined to belong to a display group “quality”. “Fixing speedadjustment” is an adjustment item for changing a fixation speed. This isdefined to belong to a display group “quality”.

“Image position adjustment” is an adjustment item for changing aprinting position on a front and back sides of a sheet. This is definedto belong to a display group “image position”. “Leading/trailing edgemargin adjustment” is an adjustment item for changing the lengths ofmargins on the leading edge side and the trailing edge side in theconveying direction for printing. This is defined to belong to a displaygroup “image position”. “Horizontal registration automatic adjustment”is an adjustment item for adjusting to prevent a target image from beingdisplaced in a vertical (landscape) direction about the conveyingdirection. This is defined to belong to a display group “imageposition”. “Sheet sorting fan airflow adjustment” is an adjustment itemfor changing an air flow of a fan for sorting sheets. This is defined tobelong to a display group “sheet conveyance”. “Pre-fixing conveying fanair flow adjustment is an adjustment item for changing an airflow of apre-fixing convey fan. This is defined to belong to a display group“sheet conveyance”.

The pull-down menu 755 is a pull-down menu by which a filter can beselected for filtering and displaying the adjustment item list 754 groupby group. For example, if “quality” is selected in the pull-down menu755, the controller 300 controls the user interface control unit 352 todisplay only adjustment items having a display group of “quality” in theadjustment item list 754.

Next, a unit for setting a favorite by performing a right clockoperation on the paper information list screen 730 will be describedwith reference to FIGS. 10A and 10B and FIG. 13A.

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrates a screen transition for favoriteregistration. FIG. 13A illustrates a flow of favorite registrationprocessing. FIG. 13B illustrates a flow for favorite display.

In step S1301, if a right-click is detected on the paper informationlist screen 1010, the controller 300 controls the user interface controlunit 352 to determine whether a favorite icon area 1011 for a paper thatis being displayed has been right-clicked. For example, in the paperinformation list display area 771, the first column may be a column forfavorite icon display. The controller 300 controls the user interfacecontrol unit 352 to obtain the clicked row number and column number anddetermines whether the column number is matched with the number of thecolumn for favorite icon display. Which paper is being selected, thatis, which row in the paper information list display area 771 has beenclicked is determined based on the clocked row number. The controller300 obtains a type of click from the user interface control unit 352 anddetermines whether it is a right-click or not.

In step S1302, the controller 300 controls the user interface controlunit 352 to obtain a favorite ID of a medium selected based on theclocked row number and column number.

In step S1303, the controller 300 controls the user interface controlunit 352 to display a registered favorite menu 1021 on the paperinformation list screen 1020. For example, the controller 300 obtainsthe favorite setting table 1230 from the setting managing unit 357 andcontrols the registered favorite menu 1021 to embed (provide) the nameof favorite and icon to be displayed. The controller 300 controls theuser interface control unit 352 to check a matched favorite ID amongfavorites in the registered favorite menu 1021 based on the favoritesettings for the paper obtained in selected step 1302. In the registeredfavorite menu 1021, a plurality of favorites can be checked.

In step S1304, the controller 300 controls the user interface controlunit 352 to detect a change in state of the checkboxes of favorites.More specifically, whether a checkbox in the registered favorite menu1021 is clicked is detected. For example, if Clientele Company C isclicked in the registered favorite menu 1021, the controller 300controls the user interface control unit 352 to check the checkbox forthe Clientele Company C. The processing then is controlled to move tostep S1305. If Clientele Company C is not clicked, the controller 300continues the detection processing. If an area excluding the registeredfavorite menu 1021 is clicked, the controller 300 controls the userinterface control unit 352 to close the registered favorite menu 1021.

In step S1305, the controller 300 (paper managing unit 353) controls theareas of the paper setting management table 1210 for the currentlyselected paper. Thus, the favorite ID or IDs having a check in theregistered favorite menu 1021 is or are overwritten. If no favorites arechecked, “Not Set” is defined for the favorite ID in the paper settingmanagement table 1210. When the writing to the paper setting managementtable 1210 completes, the controller 300 controls the user interfacecontrol unit 352 to close the registered favorite menu 1021. Thecontroller 300 controls the user interface control unit 352 to update anicon for a favorite based on a favorite ID of the paper information listdisplay area on the paper information list screen 1020 and papersettings screen 770 that are being displayed. If one favorite ID isselected, the controller 300 displays an icon corresponding to thefavorite ID. If two or more favorite IDs are set, the controller 300displays an icon indicating that a plurality of favorites are set thatis different from the icon of the favorite to be registered in theregistered favorite menu 1021. For example, it may be icons like objects1022 in FIG. 10B. If no favorite ID is set, the controller 300 does notdisplay a favorite icon.

Up to this point, the favorite setting unit has been described which isapplied when the favorite icon that is being selected on the paperinformation list screen 1010 is right-clicked. Having described thefavorite setting unit with a right-click for one selected paper forconvenience of description, a plurality of paper information pieces maybe selected and be right-clicked so that all of the selected paperinformation pieces can be registered as favorites simultaneously. Forexample, on the paper information list screen 1010, a plurality of paperinformation pieces may be selected with Ctrl+left click, and thefavorite icon area 1011 may be right-clicked. The controller 300 in stepS1303 controls the user interface control unit 352 to display to uncheckall of favorites in the registered favorite menu 1021. In step S1304,the controller 300 detects which favorite is checked. The processingthen moves to step S1305. In step S1305, the controller 300 controls thepaper managing unit 353 to perform processing for writing favorite IDson the paper setting management table 1210 corresponding to all paperIDs that are currently being selected. A result of a logical OR of afavorite ID currently set for a paper ID to be written and the favoriteID checked in the registered favorite menu 1021 is written. For example,in a case where paper information pieces with paper ID=1, 2 arecurrently being selected and Clientele Company B is checked in theregistered favorite menu 1021, the favorite ID of the paper ID=1 iswritten with 1, 2. The favorite ID of the paper ID=2 is also writtenwith 1, 2.

Having described that, according to this embodiment, the registeredfavorite menu 1021 is presented in response to a right-click as anexample, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to theright-click. For example, the registered favorite menu 1021 may bedisplayed in response to a press of a shortcut key or a specific key onthe keyboard. Alternatively, a press of a combination of specific keysmay enable registration of a favorite corresponding to the keys withoutpresenting the registered favorite menu 1021.

Favorite Display Unit

Next, the aforementioned information on favorites will be used todescribe a flow for printing a house leaflet by an operator withreference to FIG. 6B.

In step S601, an operator may press the paper information list button711 on the top screen 710 in the paper management system.

In step S602, the controller 300 in the print control apparatus 102controls the user interface control unit 352 to obtain the paper settingmanagement table 1210 from the paper managing unit 353. The controller300 controls the user interface control unit 352 to create a paperinformation list screen 910 based on the obtained paper informationlist.

Next, details of the paper information list screen will be describedwith reference to the paper information list screen 730 in FIG. 7A. Inresponse to an instruction from the CPU 301, the paper information listscreen 730 renders data in its video memory, and image data rendered inthe video memory are output as a video signal to the display device 111for display. The screen 730 displays the paper information list displayarea 731, a pull-down menu 732 for selecting a paper information listdisplay method, a paper search input area 733, and buttons (paper addbuttons) for adding a paper to a paper information list. The paper addbutton to be displayed may include a new registration button 734 forregistering a new paper to the paper information list, a copy button 735for copying an existing paper to the paper information list, and aregistration button 736 for generating a paper from a paper informationdatabase.

FIGS. 9A to 9C illustrate screen transitions for registering a paperinformation piece with a paper-feed stage. The paper information listdisplay area of an object 731 in FIG. 7A will be described. The object731 is a table displaying a paper information list. The table has acolumn indicating paper information and a row indicating set paperinformation pieces. In order to display information other than attributeinformation of the displayed paper information pieces, a slider bar ofan object 737 can be operated to display the information. In order todisplay a paper other than displayed paper information pieces, a sliderbar of an object 738 may be operated to display the paper. A paper thatis being selected is highlighted so that it can clearly inform that thepaper information piece is being selected. If one of paper informationpieces that are not being selected from the table displaying the paperinformation list of the object 731, information regarding the paperinformation piece that is currently being selected is displayed in apaper information list area 731. According to this embodiment, if acolumn 739 displaying “favorite” icons is right-clicked, a registeredfavorite menu 1021 in FIG. 10B is displayed. If another column 740 isright-clicked, a paper-type registered context menu 932 in FIG. 9C isdisplayed. Having described that the column 739 and the column 740undergo different processes from each other, when either one of thecolumns is left-clicked, the left-clicked paper is commonly selected. Ina case where a plurality of paper information pieces are being selectedand when the column 740 is right-clicked, the controller 300 may controlthe user interface control unit 352 not to display the paper-typeregistered context menu 932, for example. This is because a plurality ofpaper information pieces is not set for one paper-feed stage.Alternatively, a plurality of selections may be canceled, and the columnor icon corresponding to a certain paper that is clicked finally may beselected. Then, the paper-type registered context menu 932 may becontrolled to display for the paper that is being selected (finallyclicked paper information column or icon).

A pull-down menu for selecting a method for displaying the paperinformation list 732 will be described. The pull-down menu 732 displayshow the paper information list display area of the object 731 is to bedisplayed. According to this embodiment, one of “Display All”,“Clientele Company A”, “Clientele Company B”, “Clientele Company C”,“Log” may be selected for display. Assume that “Display All” is selectedfor display here.

The terms “Clientele Company A”, “Clientele Company B”, and “ClienteleCompany C” are selection options for filtering display contents for thepaper information list display area of the object 731 for each favoriteID of a paper information piece.

In step S603, the controller 300 controls the user interface controlunit 352 to display the paper information list screen 910 on the displaydevice 111.

In step S604, an operator may select “Clientele Company A” in thepull-down menu 732.

In step S605, the controller 300 (by controlling the user interfacecontrol unit 352) detects a change in the pull-down menu 911. Thecontroller 300 generates a paper information list based on the selectionin the pull-down menu 911 according to the paper information in thepaper setting management table 1210. For example, if “Clientele CompanyA” is selected in the pull-down menu 911 as illustrated in FIG. 10, thecontroller 300 refers to favorite IDs of paper information pieces in thepaper setting management table 1210 to determine whether “ClienteleCompany A” (favorite ID=1) is included therein or not. The controller300 controls the user interface control unit 352 to add a matched paperto the paper information list display area 731. With reference to theflowchart in FIG. 13B, a flow of processing will be described.

In step S1321, the controller 300 controls the user interface controlunit 352 to set 0 for the initial value of a row number n in a paperinformation piece displayed in the paper information list display area731.

In step S1322, the controller 300 controls the user interface controlunit 352 to refer to a selected item in the pull-down menu 911 to obtaina favorite to be displayed. Here, as a favorite, Clientele Company A(favorite ID=1) can be obtained.

In step S1323, the controller 300 controls the paper managing unit 353to obtain a paper information piece at an (n+1) the row (first row) inthe paper setting management table 1210 and refer to the favorite ID ofthe obtained paper information piece. Assume here that favorite ID=1 fora paper of (Mohawk Color) is obtained.

In step S1324, the controller 300 controls the user interface controlunit 352 to determine whether the favorite ID obtained in step S1323 ismatched with the favorite ID obtained in step S1322. Here, whether it ismatched with favorite ID=1 is determined. If matched, the controller 300advances the processing to step S1325. If not, the controller 300advances the processing to step S1326. Because the favorite ID of thepaper (Mohawk Color) is matched with the favorite ID=1, the processingmoves to step S1325.

In step S1325, the controller 300 controls the user interface controlunit 352 to add the paper information piece at the (n+1) the row to thepaper information list display area 731. The controller 300 here addsthe sheet (Mohawk Color) to the paper information list display area 731.

In step S1326, the controller 300 controls the user interface controlunit 352 to increment by 1 (one) the row number n in the paperinformation piece to be displayed in the paper information list displayarea 731.

In step S1327, the controller 300 controls the paper managing unit 353to determine whether the processing reaches the end of the paper settingmanagement table 1210 or not. If the processing reaches the end, thecontroller 300 advances the processing to step S1328. If not, thecontroller 300 advances processing to the step S1323 whether theprocessing in step S1323 to step S1326 is performed on paper informationpieces in the rest of the paper setting management table 1210. Here,because more paper information pieces remain in the paper settingmanagement table 1210, the controller 300 advances the processing tostep S1323. The controller 300 controls the paper managing unit 353 toobtain a paper information piece of the (n+1) the row (or second row) ofthe paper setting management table 1210 and performs the processing instep S1323 to step S1326.

In step S1328, because only paper information pieces matched with theselected item in the pull-down menu 911 are ready for display in thepaper information list display area 731, the controller 300 controls theuser interface control unit 352 to display a paper information listscreen 920. In a case where there is a paper having a plurality offavorite IDs (such as paper information pieces in the table 1210 in FIG.12A (paper ID=2)), either Clientele Company A or Clientele Company B maybe selected in the pull-down menu 911 to display the paper informationlist display area 731.

Referring back to FIGS. 6A and 6B, in step S606, the controller 300controls the user interface control unit 352 to display the paperinformation list screen 920 including the paper information list displayarea 731 having undergone filtering with “Clientele Company A” in stepS605. In other words, the paper information list screen 920 can displaya list of paper information pieces associated with Clientele Company A.

If the column 739 is clicked independently from the selected item in thepull-down menu 911, the menu 1021 displays all favorites. For example,even when Clientele Company A is selected in the pull-down menu 911, itis determined that the object 1021 displays “Clientele Company A”,“Clientele Company B”, and “Clientele Company C”.

In step S607, an operator may select the paper information piece (MohawkColor) 921 by left-clicking for use in printing in association withClientele Company A. The controller 300 controls the user interfacecontrol unit 352 to cause the paper information 921 selected byleft-clicking to have a selected state, like the paper information 931.The operator may right-click a name area for allocation of the paper toa paper-feed stage.

In step S608, if the controller 300 detects a right-click at a columnother than a favorite icon as described with reference to the column 740in FIG. 7A, the controller 300 controls the user interface control unitto generate a paper-type registered context menu 932. The controller 300controls to obtain a settable paper-feed stage ID in the paper settingmanagement table 1210 corresponding to the paper 931 from the papermanaging unit 353 and obtain the corresponding paper-feed stage namefrom the paper-feed stage management table 1220. For example, in theexamples in FIGS. 9A to 9C, the controller 300 obtains settablepaper-feed stage IDs={1, 2, 3, 4, 5} for the paper 931 (paper ID=1) andobtains a paper-feed stage name of each of the paper-feed stage IDs fromthe paper-feed stage management table 1220. In this example, IDscorresponding to a paper cassette 1, a paper cassette 2, a papercassette 3, a paper cassette 4, and a manual feed tray are obtained, andthe controller 300 controls the user interface control unit 352 togenerate a paper-type registered context menu 932.

In step S609, the controller 300 controls the user interface controlunit 352 to display the paper-type registered context menu 932.

In step S610, an operator may select a paper-feed stage (paper cassette1) with which the paper is to be registered from the paper-typeregistered context menu 932.

In step S611, the controller 300 controls the paper managing unit 353 togenerate a paper setting instruction for registering information in thepaper setting management table 1210 corresponding to the selected paper931 with the paper cassette 1 (paper-feed stage ID=5). The controller300 controls the network control unit 355 to transmit the paper settinginstruct to the image forming apparatus 103 via a control cable 108under control of the LAN controller 306.

In step S612, the controller 200 in the image forming apparatus 103 inresponse to the paper setting instruction received under the LANcontroller 206 sets the received paper information piece for the paper931 for the designated paper-feed stage (paper cassette 1 here). Havingdescribed how a paper information piece is to be set by right-clickingwith reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B, the paper 931 can be dragged asillustrated in FIGS. 9A to 9C and be dropped to the paper-feed stagebutton 941 for the paper cassette 1 on the top screen 940 to set thepaper, according to this embodiment. The controller 300 counts up theusage log of the paper having been set and controls the paper managingunit 353 to write the count to the usage log in the paper settingmanagement table 1210 for the target paper ID.

In step S613, the operator may open the paper cassette 1 in the imageforming apparatus 103 and set a paper bundle of the paper 931. Theoperator may then close the paper cassette 1.

Up to this point, the procedure for defining a paper to be used forprinting has been described. Next, a flow for printing a job 1 ofCompany A by using the paper 931 will be described.

In step S614, the operator may generate a Company A job 1 by using theclient computer 101, changes settings to use the paper 931, andtransmits a print instruction to the print control apparatus 102 byusing a print application or a printer driver. The print instructionincludes designations of a paper and a paper-feed stage to be used forprinting and is designated through a user interface of the printapplication or the printer driver when instructing to print. The clientcomputer 101 transmits Page Description Language (PDL) data as anexecution instruction for the print processing to the print controlapparatus 102. According to this embodiment, the PDL data designates apaper or a paper-feed stage to be used for the printing. Assume herethat the paper cassette 1 is designated as a paper-feed stage by usingthe user interface of the printer driver.

In step S615, the controller 300 in the print control apparatus 102performs RIP (Raster Image Processor) processing based on the receivedPDL data and generates raster image data which can be readable by theimage forming apparatus 103. The controller 300 analyzes the printinstruction included in the PDL data and generates print settinginformation used for the print processing.

In step S616, the controller 300 transmits the image data and printsetting information used for the print processing as print data to theimage forming apparatus 103. Here, assume that the paper cassette 1 isdesignated as the paper-feed stage in the print data. According to thisembodiment, the controller 300 controls the network control unit 355 totransmit the print setting information to the image forming apparatus103 via the control cable 108 under control of the LAN controller 306.The controller 300 controls the job managing unit 356 to transmit theimage data to the image forming apparatus 103 via the image video cable107 through the video interface 310.

In step S617, the controller 200 in the image forming apparatus 103controls to feed paper from the designated paper-feed stage or thepaper-feed stage, with which the paper is registered based on thereceived print data. Because the paper cassette 1 is designated as thepaper-feed stage in the print data, the paper cassette 1 is to be used.

In step S618, the controller 200 controls the printing unit (printerengine) 213 connected thereto to output and print image signal that isoutput information through the print interface 207.

The flow of the processing for finding a desired paper and performingprinting with it by using the favorite display has been described up tothis point. Thus, an operator can easily find a paper (Mohawk Color forClientele Company A) desired by the operator even in a case where adesired paper is settled for each of a plurality of clienteles(customers). This can improve convenience of the operator who performthe paper setting operation relating to paper for a digital multifunction peripheral.

Embodiment 2

In a case where many favorite paper information pieces are set by thefavorite setting unit according to Embodiment 1, it may be difficult toquickly find a paper information piece even on a displayed list offavorites. For example, assume a case where “Clientele Company A”,“Clientele Company B”, and “Clientele Company C” are prepared asfavorites and where paper information pieces to be used for each of thefavorites are preset. However, the types of printed products ordered byClientele Company A may increase, requiring scrolling through paperinformation pieces belonging to Clientele Company A. It may be difficultfor an operator to find a desired paper information piece even byperforming filtering with “Clientele Company A” in the pull-down menu732 on the paper information list screen 730 for printing for ClienteleCompany A.

Accordingly, in a second embodiment, when such a circumstance occurs, anunnecessary favorite paper information piece can be deleted to maintaina state in which a desired favorite paper information piece can easilybe found. More specifically, if, after implementing the favoritesetting, the total number of paper information pieces having set asfavorites reaches a predetermined threshold value, a screen forcancelling the favorite setting is to be displayed.

Processing according to this embodiment will be described with referenceto FIGS. 14A to 14C and FIG. 15. FIGS. 14A to 14C illustrate screentransitions for a favorite registration. FIG. 15 illustrates a flow of afavorite registration process. Because the favorite registration processhas described according to Embodiment 1, any repetitive descriptionswill be omitted. On a paper information list screen 1410 in FIG. 14A,when a paper information piece 1411 is being selected, an operator mayright-click a favorite icon area 1412. The operator may check “ClienteleCompany C” in a registered favorite menu 1413.

With reference to the flowchart in FIG. 15, the process will bedescribed below.

In step S1501, the controller 300 controls the paper managing unit 353to calculate a total number of paper information pieces set for afavorite and determines whether it is higher than a predeterminedthreshold value. For example, a total number of paper information piecesset for a favorite can be calculated with reference to paper informationin the paper setting management table 1210 and counts the number ofpaper information pieces for which favorite IDs are set. If the totalnumber of paper information pieces set for a favorite is higher than thethreshold value, the controller 300 advances the processing to stepS1502. If the total number of paper information pieces set for afavorite does not exceed the threshold value, the favorite configurationprocessing ends without performing anything.

In step S1502, in order to display a favorite cancel screen 1420, thecontroller 300 controls the paper managing unit 353 to generate a paperinformation list display area 1422 to which paper information piecesbelonging to a certain favorite are only added. The favorite cancelscreen 1420 is a screen on which a favorite registration set to paperinformation can be cancelled. The favorite cancel screen 1420 displays amessage prompting to cancel the registration. Because the basicprocessing flow is the same as the processing flow in step S1321 toS1327 in FIG. 13B, differences therebetween will only be describedbelow.

Because the processing in step S1321 is performed in the same manner asdescribed above, it will not be described repetitively here.

In step S1322, the controller 300 handles all of favorite IDs in thefavorite setting table 1230 to be displayed as favorites. Assume thatfavorite IDs=1, 2, 3 are to be displayed.

Because the processing in step S1323 is performed in the same manner asdescribed above, it will not be described repetitively here.

In step S1324, the controller 300 determines whether the favorite ID ofthe paper information of the (n+1) the row in the paper settingmanagement table 1210 is matched with one of the favorite IDs=1, 2, 3.If it is matched with one of the favorite IDs, the processing moves tostep S1325. If not, the processing moves to step S1326.

Because the processing in step S1326 is performed in the same manner asdescribed above, it will not be described repetitively here.

Because the processing in step S1327 is performed in the same manner asdescribed above, it will not be described repetitively here. Through theprocessing up to this point performed on all of the paper information inthe paper setting management table 1210, the processing in step S1502completes.

In step S1503, the controller 300 controls the user interface controlunit 352 to sort paper information pieces in the paper information listdisplay area 1422 generated in step S1502 in increasing order (ascendingorder) of the number of usage logs of the display areas.

In step S1504, the controller 300 controls the user interface controlunit 352 to display the favorite cancel screen 1420.

The favorite cancel screen 1420 includes a pull-down menu 1421 forselecting a method for displaying a paper information list, a paperinformation list display area 1422, paper information search input area1427, and a button 1426 for closing the favorite cancel screen 1420. Thepaper information list display area 1422 has slider bars 1424, 1425similar to the slider bars 737, 738. Because these components are thesame as those of the paper information list screen 730 except for thepull-down menu 1421, any repetitive descriptions will be described. Theyare different in that a selection option “favorite” is displayed whichmeans one of favorites in the pull-down menu 1421 is applicable. Here,“favorite” means that one of the favorite IDs=1, 2, 3 is applicable.According to this embodiment, the favorite cancel screen 1420 maydisplay a checkbox for selecting whether the favorite cancel screen 1420is to be displayed from the current point.

Up to this point, deletion of an unnecessary paper information piece hasbeen described in a case where the number of favorite paper informationpieces is equal to or higher than a predetermined number. Thus, when thenumber of registered favorites increases, a guidance may be given to ascreen prompting to delete an unnecessary favorite paper informationpiece for easily finding a desired paper information piece. Because ofdeletion of an unnecessary favorite paper information piece, an operatorcan keep easiness of finding of a desired paper information pieceeasily. Therefore, the operator can easily find a desired paperinformation piece.

Embodiment 3

According to Embodiment 2, an unnecessary paper information piece isdeleted in a case where the number of favorite paper information piecesincreases. However, selecting and cancelling paper information piecesone by one through the favorite cancel screen requires time and labor.Particularly in a case where there is an unnecessary favorite group ofpaper information pieces, the group itself can be deleted for easycancellation of favorite paper information pieces by an operator.

According to this embodiment, when the circumstance (specific condition)occurs, a favorite group of paper information pieces can be deleted forkeeping easiness of finding of a desired paper information piece, unlikeEmbodiment 2. More specifically, if, after implementing the favoritesetting, the total number of paper information pieces having set asfavorites reaches a predetermined threshold value, a favorite cancelscreen 1620 is displayed.

Processing according to this embodiment will be described with referenceto FIGS. 16A to 16C and FIG. 17. FIGS. 16A to 16C illustrate screentransitions for a favorite registration. FIG. 17 illustrates a flow of afavorite registration process.

Because the favorite registration process has been described accordingto Embodiment 1, any repetitive descriptions will be omitted. On a paperinformation list screen 1610 in FIG. 16A, when a paper information piece1611 is being selected, an operator may right-click a favorite icon area1612. The operator may check “Clientele Company C” in a registeredfavorite menu 1613.

With reference to the flowchart in FIG. 17, the process will bedescribed below. In step S1701, the controller 300 controls the papermanaging unit 353 to calculate a total number of paper informationpieces set for a favorite and determines whether it is higher than apredetermined threshold value. Because the processing is performed inthe same manner as in S1501, it will not be described repetitively here.If a total number of paper information pieces set for a favorite exceedsthe threshold value, the controller 300 advances the processing to stepS1702. If the total number of paper information pieces set for afavorite does not exceed the threshold value, the favorite configurationprocessing ends without performing anything. In other words, apredetermined number of paper information pieces at a maximum can beregistered normally.

In step S1702, the controller 300 displays the favorite cancel screen1620. The favorite cancel screen 1620 has the same screen configurationas that of the favorite management screen. They are different in that amessage “any favorite that is not used?” is displayed within the screento an operator.

Because the processing in steps S1703 and S1704 is performed in the samemanner as described with reference to the warning screen 1150 in thedescription regarding “screen transitions for deleting a registeredfavorite” according to Embodiment 1 with reference to FIGS. 11A and 11B,any repetitive descriptions will be omitted.

Up to this point, deletion of an unnecessary favorite group of paperinformation pieces has been described in a case where the number ofregistered favorite paper information pieces is increased. Thus, whenthe number of registered favorites increases, a guidance may be given toa screen prompting to delete an unnecessary favorite group of paperinformation pieces for easily finding a desired paper information piece.Because of deletion of an unnecessary favorite group of paperinformation pieces, an operator can delete unnecessary favorite paperinformation pieces by one operation and can keep easiness of finding ofa desired paper information piece easily. Therefore, the operator caneasily find a desired paper information piece.

Embodiment 4

According to Embodiments 2 and 3, when the number of favorite paperinformation pieces increases, an unnecessary favorite paper informationpiece or an unnecessary favorite group of paper information pieces isdeleted. However, when the number of clienteles increases but clientelesfrom the past are still kept as clienteles, the current paperinformation pieces may necessarily be kept even though the number ofpaper information pieces increases.

Accordingly, in Embodiment 4, when such a circumstance occurs, anunnecessary favorite paper information piece is not deleted to maintaina state in which a desired favorite paper information piece can easilybe found, unlike Embodiments 2 and 3. More specifically, if the totalnumber of paper information pieces having set as favorites reaches apredetermined threshold value and when a paper information list screen1810 is to be displayed, the paper information list screen 1810 isprepared for enabling a quick paper information search.

Processing according to this embodiment will be described with referenceto FIG. 18 and FIG. 19. FIG. 18 illustrates a paper information listscreen. FIG. 19 illustrates a flow of processing for displaying thepaper information list.

With reference to the flowchart in FIG. 19, the processing will bedescribed below. The flowchart illustrates processing to be performed inresponse to a press of the button 711 on the top screen or when thepaper information list screen 1810 that is being displayed is renderedin the foreground.

In step S1901, the controller 300 controls the paper managing unit 353to calculate a total number of paper information pieces set for afavorite and determines whether it is higher than a predeterminedthreshold value. Because the processing is performed in the same manneras in S1501, it will not be described repetitively here. If a totalnumber of paper information pieces set as favorites exceeds thethreshold value, the controller 300 advances the processing to stepS1902. If the total number of paper information pieces set as favoritesdoes not exceed the threshold value, the favorite configurationprocessing ends without performing anything.

In step S1902, the controller 300 controls the user interface controlunit 352 to set a screen input focus in a search input area 1812.

In step S1903, the controller 300 generates the paper information list1813 of all paper information pieces registered with favorites. Becausethe processing is performed in the same manner as in S1502 in FIG. 15,it will not be described repetitively here.

In step S1904, the controller 300 sorts the paper information list 1813generated in step S1902 in order of usage logs. Because the processingis performed in the same manner as in S1503 in FIG. 15, it will not bedescribed repetitively here.

In step S1905, the controller 300 controls the user interface controlunit 352 to display the paper information list screen 1810. A selectionoption “favorite” is displayed which means one of favorites in thepull-down menu 1811 is applicable. Here, “favorite” means that one ofthe favorite IDs=1, 2, 3 is applicable.

Up to this point, it has been described that, if the number of paperinformation pieces registered as favorites increases, a state can beobtained in which a key word can be input quickly in the paperinformation search input area when the paper information list screen isdisplayed. Therefore, when the number of registered favorites increases,a guidance may be given to a search unit for easier finding of a desiredpaper information piece than cases based on favorites. As a result, anoperator can easily find a desired paper information piece even in acase where a significantly large number of favorites are registered.

Other Embodiments

The present disclosure can be implemented by processing includingsupplying a program implementing one or more functions of theaforementioned embodiments to a system or an apparatus over a network orthrough a storage medium and reading and executing the program by one ormore processors in a computer in the system or the apparatus.Alternatively, it can be implemented by a circuit (such as an ASIC)implementing the one or more functions.

The present disclosure is applicable to a system including a pluralityof apparatuses or an apparatus including one device. For example, a partof the module implemented by the system software 351 can be implementedby an external server, and a result processed by the external server maybe obtained to implement the function.

The present disclosure is not limited to the aforementioned embodiments.Various changes, modifications, and alterations based on the spirit ofthe present invention (including organic combinations of embodiments)may be made and are not excluded from the scope of the presentinvention. In other words, configurations acquired by combiningembodiments and variation examples thereof are also included in thepresent invention.

The abbreviations appearing in the descriptions of the aforementionedembodiments are defined as follows. ASIC stands for Application SpecificIntegrated Circuit. CPU stands for Central Processing Unit. FAX standsfor facsimile. LAN stands for Local Area Network. MFP stands for multifunction peripheral. PC stands for personal computer. PDL stands forPage Description Language. RAM stands for random-access memory. ROMstands for read only memory. SFP stands for single function peripheral.UI stands for user interface. USB stands for universal serial bus. IFstands for Interface.

The aforementioned embodiments provides a paper management system whichcan list and paper information pieces for each group registered by auser and associate it with a paper-feed stage.

In order to solve the problem that is it difficult to find a desiredpaper information piece from a list of a large number of registeredpaper information pieces, a paper management system is provided whichenables easy selection of a paper information to be associated with apaper-feed stage.

In a printing factory having many registered paper information pieces, acombination of paper information pieces to be used for each customer towhich printed materials are delivered may often be fixed. In view ofthis point, paper information pieces can be listed for each group suchas a customer.

Embodiment(s) of the present invention can also be realized by acomputer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computerexecutable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on astorage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform thefunctions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/orthat includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or moreof the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method performed by thecomputer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out andexecuting the computer executable instructions from the storage mediumto perform the functions of one or more of the above-describedembodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform thefunctions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s). Thecomputer may comprise one or more processors (e.g., central processingunit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU)) and may include a network ofseparate computers or separate processors to read out and execute thecomputer executable instructions. The computer executable instructionsmay be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or thestorage medium. The storage medium may include, for example, one or moreof a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM),a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as acompact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™,a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.

While the present invention has been described with reference toembodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited tothe disclosed embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to beaccorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all suchmodifications and equivalent structures and functions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No.2017-202093 filed Oct. 18, 2017, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

What is claimed is:
 1. A sheet information display system comprising: adisplay configured to display a plurality of pieces of sheetinformation; a user interface configured to select sheet informationfrom among the plurality of pieces of sheet information displayed by thedisplay; and a controller configured to perform an instruction forregistering, for a sheet holder of a printing apparatus, the selectedsheet information, wherein the sheet information display system isconfigured to group the plurality of pieces of sheet information into aplurality of groups, where each of the plurality of groups is able tohave two or more pieces of sheet information, wherein, in a case wherethe plurality of pieces of sheet information is grouped into theplurality of groups, the user interface selects a group from among theplurality of groups, wherein the display displays, based on the groupselected by the user interface, one or more pieces of sheet informationbelonging to the selected group without displaying one or more pieces ofsheet information belonging to another group which is not selected bythe user interface, wherein the display is configured to display sheetinformation included in each of the plurality of pieces of sheetinformation together with an icon, wherein the plurality of groupsincludes at least a first group and a second group that is differentfrom the first group, and wherein the display is configured to displaydifferent icons, registered by a user, for sheet information registeredin the first group by the sheet information display system and sheetinformation registered in the second group registered by the sheetinformation display system.
 2. The sheet information display systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the user interface further is configuredto designate sheet information from among the plurality of pieces ofsheet information and designate a group from among the plurality ofgroups, and wherein the sheet information display system registers, inthe designated group, the sheet information designated by the userinterface.
 3. The sheet information display system according to claim 1,wherein, for each piece of sheet information, the user interface furtheris configured to select an icon to display together with each piece ofsheet information included in the plurality of pieces of sheetinformation.
 4. The sheet information display system according to claim1, wherein the display is configured to display different icons forsheet information registered only in a single group of the plurality ofgroups by the sheet information display system and sheet informationregistered in at least two of the plurality of groups by the sheetinformation display system.
 5. The sheet information display systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the sheet information display system isconfigured to communicate with the printing apparatus.
 6. A method forcontrolling a sheet information display system, the method comprising:displaying a plurality of pieces of sheet information; selecting sheetinformation from among the plurality of pieces of displayed sheetinformation; and performing an instruction for registering, for a sheetholder of a printing apparatus, the selected sheet information, whereinthe plurality of pieces of sheet information is able to be grouped intoa plurality of groups, where each of the plurality of groups is able tohave two or more pieces of sheet information, wherein, in a case wherethe plurality of pieces of sheet information is grouped into theplurality of groups, selecting includes selecting a group from among theplurality of groups, wherein displaying includes displaying, based onthe selected group, one or more pieces of sheet information belonging tothe selected group without displaying one or more pieces of sheetinformation belonging to another group which is not selected, whereindisplaying includes displaying sheet information included in each of theplurality of pieces of sheet information together with an icon, whereinthe plurality of groups includes at least a first group and a secondgroup that is different from the first group, and wherein displayingincludes displaying different icons, registered by a user, for sheetinformation registered in the first group by the sheet informationdisplay system and sheet information registered in the second groupregistered by the sheet information display system.
 7. A non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium for storing a computer program forcausing a computer to perform a method for controlling a sheetinformation display system, the method comprising: displaying aplurality of pieces of sheet information; selecting sheet informationfrom among the plurality of pieces of displayed sheet information; andperforming an instruction for registering, for a sheet holder of aprinting apparatus, the selected sheet information, wherein theplurality of pieces of sheet information is able to be grouped into aplurality of groups, where each of the plurality of groups is able tohave two or more pieces of sheet information, wherein, in a case wherethe plurality of pieces of sheet information is grouped into theplurality of groups, selecting includes selecting a group from among theplurality of groups, wherein displaying includes displaying, based onthe selected group, one or more pieces of sheet information belonging tothe selected group without displaying one or more pieces of sheetinformation belonging to another group which is not selected, whereindisplaying includes displaying sheet information included in each of theplurality of pieces of sheet information together with an icon, whereinthe plurality of groups includes at least a first group and a secondgroup that is different from the first group, and wherein displayingincludes displaying different icons, registered by a user, for sheetinformation registered in the first group by the sheet informationdisplay system and sheet information registered in the second groupregistered by the sheet information display system.
 8. A sheetinformation display system comprising: a display configured to display aplurality of pieces of sheet information; a user interface configured toselect sheet information from among the plurality of pieces of sheetinformation displayed by the display; and a controller configured toperform an instruction for registering, for a sheet holder of a printingapparatus, the selected sheet information, wherein the sheet informationdisplay system is able to set, to a favorite, sheet informationdesignated by a user from among the plurality of pieces of sheetinformation, wherein the user interface selects a favorite from among aplurality of favorites, wherein the display displays, based on thefavorite selected by the user interface, one or more pieces of sheetinformation belonging to the favorite which is selected by the userinterface without displaying one or more pieces of sheet informationbelonging to another favorite which is not selected by the userinterface, wherein the sheet information display system is able to setthe selected sheet information to at least one selected favorite of aplurality of favorites, where each of the plurality of favorites is ableto have two or more pieces of sheet information set, wherein the displayis configured to display sheet information included in each of theplurality of pieces of sheet information together with an icon, whereinthe plurality of favorites includes at least a first favorite and asecond favorite that is different from the first favorite, and whereinthe display is configured to display different icons, registered by auser, for each of sheet information registered in the first favorite bythe sheet information display system and sheet information registered inthe second favorite registered by the sheet information display system.9. The sheet information display system according to claim 8, whereinthe user interface is able to select the sheet information to beregistered for the sheet holder of the printing apparatus from among theplurality of pieces of sheet information displayed by the display in astate that the one or more pieces of sheet information belonging to thefavorite which is selected by the user interface is displayed withoutdisplaying the one or more pieces of sheet information belonging to theanother favorite which is not selected by the user interface.
 10. Thesheet information display system according to claim 9, wherein the userinterface further is configured to designate a favorite from among theplurality of favorites, and wherein the sheet information display systemsets the sheet information designated by the user interface to thefavorite designated by the user interface.
 11. The sheet informationdisplay system according to claim 8, wherein the user interface furtheris configured to select an icon which is displayed together with each ofsheet information registered in the first favorite by the sheetinformation display system and sheet information registered in thesecond favorite registered by the sheet information display system. 12.The sheet information display system according to claim 8, wherein thedisplay is configured to display different icons for sheet informationregistered only in a single favorite of the plurality of favorites bythe sheet information display system and sheet information registered inat least two of the plurality of favorites by the sheet informationdisplay system.
 13. The sheet information display system according toclaim 8, wherein the sheet information display system is configured tocommunicate with the printing apparatus.
 14. A method for a sheetinformation display system, the method comprising: displaying aplurality of pieces of sheet information; selecting sheet informationfrom among the plurality of pieces of displayed sheet information; andperforming an instruction for registering, for a sheet holder of aprinting apparatus, the selected sheet information, wherein sheetinformation designated by a user from among the plurality of pieces ofsheet information is able to be set to a favorite, wherein selectingincludes selecting a favorite from among a plurality of favorites,wherein displaying includes displaying, based on the selected favorite,one or more pieces of sheet information belonging to the selectedfavorite without displaying one or more pieces of sheet informationbelonging to another favorite which is not selected, wherein theselected sheet information is able to be set to at least one selectedfavorite of a plurality of favorites, where each of the plurality offavorites is able to have two or more pieces of sheet information set,wherein displaying includes displaying sheet information included ineach of the plurality of pieces of sheet information together with anicon, wherein the plurality of favorites includes at least a firstfavorite and a second favorite that is different from the firstfavorite, and wherein displaying includes displaying different icons,registered by a user, for each of sheet information registered in thefirst favorite by the sheet information display system and sheetinformation registered in the second favorite registered by the sheetinformation display system.